Christmas Part 2

On Monday morning, Avery woke up fully sick.  Snotty nose, head hurting, and looking pitiful.  I did everything in my power to get her healthy before Christmas Eve but it just didn't happen. 

 

On Christmas Eve, we baked cookies which couldn't be eaten due to her continuous coughing.  We watched Christmas movies.  We really tried to make it as special as possible even though Ave felt pretty crummy.  Bill and I had to decide whether we would go to the Christmas Eve service.  We've never missed and we felt like it just wouldn't be Christmas without celebrating Jesus's birth at church. 

 

Our plan was to go to the least crowded service at noon and sit in the back, side area away from other people.  Avery would stay with us so she didn't infect other kids and Chloe would go to the nursery. 

 

Ave actually did better than expected during the service.  She had gotten a new princess sticker book that kept her pretty entertained.  There was one slightly awkward moment, though.  During the middle of the sermon when the room was very silent, Avery let out the toot of all toots.  She was sitting on Bill's lap, and I thought he was going to die of embarrassment.  It was long, loud, and I could tell that the people around us were curious as to who would do that in public.  Some kind of looked nonchalantly over their shoulder to see who did that!  Ave didn't even look up from her sticker book.  Oh, to be a three year old!

 

That evening, we went to Wendy's house.  We decided that we would go for a couple of hours since there were no little kids that Avery could take down.  I'm so thankful we did because we all ended up having a lot of fun.

I bought matching dresses for the girls on Etsy for Christmas.  I had visions of sweet matching sister pics.  Instead, this is what went down.  When I dressed Chloe for church, I realized that her 3 month dress was more like a shirt.  It was way too short.  Too short for me to send her in it to church.  I made her wear it to Wendy's so that I could at least get a couple of pictures of the two of them.  About 15 minutes after we arrived, I looked down at my shirt sleeve and saw a little bit of yellow.  Of course, my sweet girl had a blowout all over her tights before I had taken a single picture.  I stripped them off, changed her diaper, and quickly took a few pictures.

 



Chloe had no tights and a way too short dress.  Ave had green goop in her eyes.  I was feeling a little panicky about Chloe being so close to all the germs but at least I have a picture to show for it :).

Really sweet but my blood pressure was sky high so this was the last sis pic taken!

 After a delicious dinner, we sang happy birthday to Bill.  Avery led us all on the microphone.  Something happens to her when we go to Wendy's house.  She completely comes out of her shell and owns the place!

 

Loving life and all the attention!

Bill's Uncle Eddie is absolutely the best with kids and babies.  He loves holding them and kept Chloe happy for a good hour at least.

 



Chloe was out for the entire white elephant exchange.

 

Avery had the absolute best time that night.  She got so much attention from her Aunt Laura and Bill's teenage cousins.  They were so sweet to her, and I loved seeing her happy despite not feeling great.  Laura pulled up a Santa tracker on her laptop.  Ave could not believe that she could see where he was.  She asked to see it no fewer than 10 times that night.

 

Pretty Aunt Laura and her nieces

My girls!

I just love our family of four.  We are so blessed!

Bill being Bill :)

This girl was so excited about Santa coming!

 

 We got home around 9ish, set out some milk and cookies, and put the girls to bed.  After that, Bill and I put on It's a Wonderful Life (our Christmas Eve tradition) and Bill got to work!

 

Around 2am, Avery had a coughing attack.  She couldn't stop so I took her up some medicine and a drink.  All she could talk about was the Santa tracker and whether or not he had come yet.  So sweet.

 

The next morning, Avery woke up and shrieked with joy when she came down the stairs.  Despite the sickness, she was so excited about Christmas. 

 

 

We decided not to go to my aunt and uncle's house that day since Avery was not feeling better. Savannah was only a few weeks old at that point, and I would have felt horrible if she had gotten something from Ave.  It felt so strange being home on Christmas day.  I don't think that I have ever been home all Christmas day in my entire life.

 

It was strange and a little sad to miss out but it was also really nice to have a lazy day playing with toys, watching movies, and enjoying time with just our family. 

 



That afternoon, we baked a birthday cake for Jesus and celebrated the birth of our Savior.  Christmas definitely did not go according to my plans but it ended up being one of my favorites ever.  I just love seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child.  It makes celebrating that much better! 

 

The next morning, Avery woke up crying of ear pain, and we were at the doctor by 9:15.  We left with three prescriptions, and she was diagnosed with an inner ear infection, a mild outer ear infection, conjunctivitis, and a cold.  Lovely! 

 



 

I can't express how thankful I am that she didn't wake up with ear pain on Christmas morning.  Once we got antibiotics in her system, she started feeling so much better.  We definitely made some special memories this year!